Enchanted Forest
by invisiblegerman
Summary: College students Matthew Williams and his cousin Alfred F. Jones, decide to head to Germany for a year to study abroad. Their roommates in the student housing are Arthur Kirkland and Feliciano Vargas, who are both also studying abroad. Within the town, there is a rumour that sparks a fight between Arthur and Alfred which ends up with the boys going camping to see if it is true.
1. Prologue: Before the spell

"There, the paperwork is all signed Lud. Now we are officially brothers." Gilbert laughed his rather strange laugh, which annoyed most of the village, but enticed Ludwig to crack a small smile.

The boy, Ludwig, stayed quiet, but there was a flash of happiness within the boy's sky blue eyes. Gilbert knew from the start Ludwig had never really expressed emotions, but perhaps with help from his big brother he could change that. Either way, Ludwig was going to be spending the rest of his childhood taken care of in the castle alongside Gilbert, their father, and Old Fritz, their grandfather. Now Gilbert had someone to play with instead of just himself or a servant who never had enough time to play a wonderful prank on anyone.

"B-Bruder?"

The small voice and gasp from Ludwig was enough to break Gilbert out of his thoughts of pranking his father, to see the fear instilled within the sky blue eyes of his brother. Turning toward the spot he knew his father would be, Gilbert was about to ask what was going on when he was forcefully shoved against the wall directly behind the man.

"Lud!"

"B-Bru-"

The voice of the small child changed from the soft human voice to something much more feral and deep in the small boy's throat. It was the sound of a wolf. There were plenty around for him to recognize the sound. Gilbert attempted to get a better look at the now crumpled body of his brother on the floor, but a pair of hands held Gilbert around the middle, pulling him away from the room. He, of course, put up the best fight he could to help his new little brother, but it was all in vain for Old Fritz had him and was not about to let him go.

"Gilbert! Listen, there is nothing you can do for Ludwig right now. We knew this was bound to happen, just not so soon. It is dangerous in there at the moment so let your father take care of it," his grandfather said. Old Fritz promptly shut the door behind them and continued to bring Gilbert through the house.

"You knew what was going to happen?" Gilbert asked, as he stopped struggling. If his grandfather held him then there was no way of getting out of the old man's grip. Even after all those years, Old Fritz never really lost his strength, which was one of the many reasons Gilbert still admired him.

"You will know when it safe," was the only response Gilbert was given as he was quickly put in his room. "Now, stay in here until either I, or your father, comes to get you."

"Ja, Fritz," Gilbert said with a nod of his head, watching the door close in front of him. "Don't worry Lud, I'll save you from whatever it is that is hurting you and making you sound like a wolf."

The sound of another howl filled the crisp cold air.


	2. Chapter 1: First Spell

Matthew opened the doors to Haus des Gastes, a German cafe he and three others frequented since first coming to Germany. He was a study abroad student along with his cousin Alfred F. Jones, who he was supposed to be meeting at the cafe in a few minutes. The heavy wooden doors opened with a wave of warm air, compared to the chill breeze which started to settle in for the fall season. It made Matthew happy he had decided to wear one of his thicker sweaters, but honestly he was prepared for this sort of weather thanks to living in Canada for much of his life. Alfred on the other hand, had packed mostly t-shirts and so complained constantly about the cold. Honestly, Matthew would probably have to watch out for Alfred before some of his own sweaters went missing.

The door led to a small section before the actual cafe were people were able to grab seat cushions for outside when the weather was nice during the summer and a place to put umbrellas. He then walked through another set of double open doors before seeing all the tables in front of the counter where the drinks were prepared. The cafe itself was more than just a place to grab coffee and a slice of cake, but after a certain time it even severed dinner. They had never stayed long enough for dinner, but rumours suggested it was rather good. Yet the first thing Matthew turned to look for instead of his cousin was the cake display to see which cake the owner's wife had baked for the day.

The cakes were one of the defining qualities about the cafe. The owner was a chef behind the scenes, while his wife baked the cakes for special events they held, or for every day coffee and cake time. He always enjoyed seeing them, considering they corresponded with whatever happened to be in season. Today an assortment of plum cakes were scattered throughout the three tier display case, ranging from cream cakes, to just regular fruit tarts.

The smell of coffee filled the air, making the Canadian's mouth water as he started to glance around for his cousin. It didn't take long as he heard his boisterous cousin speaking animatedly with Matthew's roommate, Feliciano Vargas, an Italian who came to study aboard as an artist. Most just called him Feli, which he didn't seem to mind. Matthew could not for the life of him remember if they were supposed to have met with Feli or not. Either way, it worked out for Matthew considering he had been running late to turn in one of his assignments the teacher had corrupted upon trying to open it the night before to grade it. Thankfully Matthew had the file saved on his computer to show the teacher without a problem. He was even able to get a grade right away.

"Oi! Mattie!" Alfred shouted, making a few of the local Germans turn their heads towards him before glaring and talking about how loud Americans could be.

"Hi Al. You do realize that you are the reason why the stereotypical American is considered loud, right?" Matthew teased his cousin as he sat next to Feliciano.

"Ve! Ciao Mattie." Feliciano greeted him in the usual way of wild hand gestures and a bright smile.

"Hello Feli. I didn't know we were meeting you here too." Matthew admitted as Alfred puffed out his cheeks to pout.

"We weren't, but he ended up showing up before you and your lazy butt." Alfred said.

"Sorry Alfie. I had to turn in an assignment after the teacher corrupted the first file."

Matthew smiled at his cousin, only remembering that he had wanted to order coffee when he saw the cup in between Alfred's hand. Feliciano was already working his way through a piece of plum tort. Alfred called for the waitress when he noticed Matthew staring. She took Matthew's order while the three continued to talk about pleasantries, but Matthew could tell something was wrong with his cousin. It was in the way he constantly moved his hands to re-position around his cup, along with opening his mouth a few times as if about to say something, but then stopped. With Feliciano here, Matthew was not sure if the American would actually talk about what it was. So he made sure to make a mental note to ask later and focused on talking about their midterms coming up in two weeks' time.

In the middle of talking, Matthew was given his coffee and slice of cake which he split with Alfred like they normally did since the pieces were too big for Matthew to eat alone. Of course it did not stop Alfred from ordering another piece after they were finished with the first slice.

"Hey, have you two heard anything about the castle that's like in the woods or whatever?" Alfred asked as he chewed a piece of cake.

"Swallow before you talk, you git," came a voice behind Matthew, which made him jump slightly. But upon hearing the British accent, he knew it was only Arthur Kirkland, Alfred's roommate.

"Yeah, well I don't have to listen to ya," Alfred said after swallowing the food, giving the Briton a glare.

So that was the problem. The two were fighting again.

Ever since Alfred and Arthur had become roommates, they were constantly fighting about something. Both Feliciano and Matthew were tired of listening to either one complaining about the other, but if they were not mediators then the fights would last weeks. So Matthew took a quick glance at Feliciano, asking with his eyes about what was going on between the two. Feliciano frowned slightly and shrugged his shoulders. Sighing internally, Matthew knew one of them would be visiting him later to ask for advice.

"Hello, Matthew and Feliciano. I hope you do not mind if I sit with you as well," he said politely as the two nodded their heads. "Thank you. Honestly there were no other open seats unless I wanted to sit outside."

"Not a problem!" Feliciano stated with another bright smile.

It was nice to have the Italian as his roommate. Matthew could honestly say once he got past the constant flow of chatter, it was nice. Normally Matthew was forgot about easily, but with Feliciano's personality, the silence was lonely. How Matthew was going to get over that weird feeling when they went home after the spring semester, was beyond him.

"Anyway," Alfred interrupted after polishing off the slice of cake he had. "As I was saying. Have you guys heard the rumor?"

"No," came the choirs like answer from the three sitting at the table.

"Awesome! Then I get to tell it to you." Alfred gave his thousand watt smile at his small group of friends. "So, apparently there's a cave up in the mountains or hills or whatever, here a witch lives. And this witch totally cursed some family from Prussia? I don't know. Either way they used to live in the castle in the woods."

"That's right. The family with the curse had, what's the word? Offended? Ja, offended the witch," the waitress said with a smile before giving a small giggle. "Es tud mir lied. I did not mean to disturb your story, but I wanted to get his order."

"Just some tea please," Arthur said with a smile as she nodded her heard.

"Did you know that some people have been spotting a wolf around that area? Especially the castles. Some believe it is one of the cursed family members because no one has been able to kill it," the waitress said as she waved her little notebook and went back to put in Arthur's order.

"I didn't know she spoke English." Alfred was rather impressed before Arthur leaned over to cuff him on the ear.

"Idiot, unlike you, Germans have to take English while they are young," Arthur said before huffing a little.

"Either way, she totally ruined my punchline though." Alfred sighed as if someone had taken away his spotlight.

"Ve, is it all true?" Feliciano asked, big auburn eyes, wide with fear. Matthew patted his shoulder while shaking his head to reassure the Italian.

"It totally is Mattie! I went to go see if I could maybe find the wolf or at least sort of lead-"

"Al! You shouldn't go after wild animals like that." Matthew scolded as Alfred looked taken aback for a moment. He huffed through his nose, crossing his arm keeping quiet.

Matthew hated seeing his cousin like this, but he had to make sure that Alfred was not doing something stupid without telling anyone or even bringing someone along. Matthew had a duty to his aunt to make sure Alfred came home in one piece. It was the promise he made with her right before the two went through security to get to Germany.

"Don't worry Mattie. I'm totally fine, besides I brought a bat with me." The frown turned into a grin as Alfred swung his arms as if he held an imaginary baseball bat.

"Alfred are you crazy? You do realize if you end getting attacked by anything like a bear or-"

"Dude, Germany doesn't have a bear problem, last I checked there weren't any wild bears." Alfred shrugged at Arthur's comment as he sipped his coffee.

"Then you will end up being attacked by a wild boar." Arthur glared at the American while Feliciano's face reflected horror.

"Alfred you can't go out there alone! I don't want you to die." tears were already being blinked away as Matthew sighed. Why was it always a fight between Arthur and Alfred?

"Don't worry Feli, we won't let Al do something so stupid." Matthew gave his cousin a fierce glare, but it only made the American shrug again.

"Not like you could stop me really, but I was actually going to ask if you guys wanted to go with me. If that wolf is really out there and connected, I want to be the hero that saves everyone." Alfred was being serious and Matthew could tell. There was really nothing stopping Alfred unless Matthew wanted to physically fight him and as much as the thought pleased him, Matthew wanted no part of explaining why he had to fight Alfred to his aunt.

It was not how he pictured his first camping trip in Europe to be, but Matthew resigned himself for having a very long weekend. "Alright. I'll go with you Al."

"Yes! I knew I could count on you," Alfred said fist pumping as Feliciano started to bounce up and down announcing he would go too because the room would be too lonely. The three turned to look at Arthur, who had remained quiet for a long time.

"I'll go! Just don't expect me to sleep on bare dirt. We get everything we need for camping." He glared at Alfred before waving down the waitress so they could all pay for their checks.

"Full party! Alright so the plan is to get back to our rooms and pack up for the weekend. We need to let that one guy know we're leaving. Mattie you take care of that. We meet at the front door when we're all ready. My plans are way too amazing! Trust me Art, you are going to love this."

"Right," Matthew mumbled as he was stuck picking up after his cousin once again. Either way, he was bound to have some sort of excitement, right?


	3. Chapter 2: Second Spell

"Matthew, please, come in," the landlady of their apartment complex said gently as she rolled out dough on the kitchen table. "I was just baking some cookies."

Matthew had stood in the doorway of the kitchen for some time, wrestling with himself how to even approach the situation. The smell of freshly baked cookies filled the kitchen air, making the room more inviting than Matthew had originally thought. For some odd reason baked goods always made him feel a little more at ease. But it did not change the fact that if he said perhaps the wrong thing, they would be forbidden from going camping. The worst case scenario played in the back of Matthew's head as he slowly made his way to the kitchen table with unsure steps.

Honestly Frau Gelinda was rather nice when it came to allowing the students she permitted to reside in the complex. She had been a lucky break, as Alfred had stated the first week they had come here. Sure he and Alfred were not roommates, but it hardly mattered since their rooms were still fairly close together. They were two rooms apart. The landlady was kind and figured out the schedules of all the students and made sure they did not skip meals because of school. In fact, there were times she would cook for the entirety of the residents. One of her favourite pastimes was to bake cookies for everyone just like what she was doing at the moment. The bags on her left were full of baked and decorated cookies.

"Was?" Frau Gelinda asked as she wiped her flour dusted hands on her apron which was tied around her waist. When she looked at Matthew, she gave him a small encouraging smile. "You know you can always talk to me."

Matthew knew she was right, but it was hard to suddenly voice his request, especially when he was not quite sure of how she would respond to it. Sure, there was nothing against the rules about it, but there might still be some sort of German custom he was unaware of. He had heard rumours of how angry Germans could be. Matthew only hoped it was a stereotype.

"Right," he spoke quietly. Amethyst eyes on the ground, he blinked a few times to try and get over the initial fear of talking to her. If they ever went on another camping trip, he was going to make sure Alfred was the one who said something to her. He was just not cut out for doing this sort of job, no matter how much Alfred praised his political skills. "Al, Arthur, Feli and I were wondering if it was alright to go camping in the woods till Sunday, eh?"

There he had said it. Now he just had to wait for her to start yelling at him in German, telling him how stupid he and the others were being for wanting to go camping in the woods. As he waited, his amethyst eyes were closed and scrunched up while his lips set in a frown. It was one of the times he wished he had thought to bring Kumajirou out to hide behind, but sadly the stuffed polar bear was safe in his backpack at the moment for sleeping with later.

"Ach ja?"

Matthew looked up to see her raise an eyebrow at his question, but her face was rather neutral. For him it meant he had already screwed it all up and they would be forced to just be inside all weekend. Defeated and dejected, Matthew's shoulders slumped and he let go of the breath he had been holding without his knowledge. Frau Gelinda only chuckled at the reaction.

"Why you boys want to go camping in this kind of weather is beyond me, but don't forget to pack something warm. Ah, and don't forget your cookies. I know how much Alfred likes them." She picked up four bags with ribbons tied to them for Matthew to take with him.

He stood there for a few seconds unbelieving what his ears had heard, until he realised he was supposed to take the bags. A slight blush dusted his cheeks to show his embarrassment before he took them. Matthew dislodged the backpack on his shoulders to put the cookies in it for safe keeping. Knowing the others, they would end up eating them along the way instead of saving them for later. So Matthew told himself to keep it a secret for now.

"Thank you," Matthew managed to croak out after he zipped up his backpack and slipped both arms through it once again to carry it.

"Kein Problem. I figured it was going to be something along those lines because of your bag." Frau Gelinda picked up a cookie cutter and started to cut out the cookies. "I almost forgot. Be careful of the boar as well, they tend to get a bit aggressive, but with four people you should be okay."

She gave Matthew a bright smile before waving one hand to dismiss him from the kitchen. She had work to do and Matthew knew he was in the way. Yet when he reached the doorway of the kitchen, she called out to him again.

"Don't forget about the warning for the woods," she said, making Matthew's brows knit together in confusion.

"What do you mean?" he asked her as she paused in cutting out another cookie.

"There's an old house deep in the woods. You are not supposed to go there under any circumstances because it is falling apart. I don't want you or any of the others getting hurt. Not to mention, in the deeper parts of the forest there are always strange things happening," she said with a shrug of her shoulders. She continued working on the cookies.

"Yes ma'am," Matthew said with a smile as well before he left Frau Gelinda to go about making cookies for the rest of the college students.

Matthew made his way out of the apartment complex and toward the sidewalk to look for the others. The crisp fall air was nice after being in the hot kitchen with Frau Gelinda under all that pressure. Now he just had to tell the others they had the okay and they would be on their way. Yet as he adjusted his scarf around his neck and looked around, the sidewalk was devoid of his cousin and the others. Just then his phone buzzed in his back pocket. Taking it out, he realised it was a text from Alfred. Reading it, Matthew could only shake his head.

_From: Captain America_

_Yo, we went ahead. Meet in the forest at the castle._

"Of course you would go ahead without me. You hoser," Matthew muttered under his breath as he gave a sigh and started the trek to the castle on his own.

•°o.O O.o°•

_From: Maple Cousin_

_I'm on my way. Just so you know, we got permission and stay away from the falling apart house deep in the woods._

"See told you it was fine to leave Mattie back there," Alfred stated after he read the text message to Arthur and Feliciano, his words leaving a misty cloud in the air as the temperature continued to drop with the lowering sun.

Alfred had led the small group through the bustling town and into the forest without so much as batting an eyelash. In truth Arthur could tell Feliciano had been a bit nervous about leaving his roommate behind. But what Arthur found rather ironic, was the two who were a bit too excited about the trip did not particularly like the colder weather. Arthur really did not mind it so long as he was able to enjoy a cup of tea to warm him up. Yet, why Alfred decided to continue on without his cousin was still a mystery for Arthur, as was the need to go camping while it was growing colder. But he knew Matthew was smart enough to find them, hopefully before nightfall.

"Are you sure it was wise to leave your cousin back there? Does he even know where to go?" Arthur asked after he sighed, following his American roommate to the forest.

"Of course! Mattie can handle himself so I had no worries. You'd be surprised at what Mattie can do. As for directions...Well, he's my cousin so it should be just fine," Alfred said. He gave a short laugh as he adjusted the two backpacks he was already carrying. "You know Artie, if you want I can carry yours too."

"No thank you. I can carry my own weight just fine," Arthur said with a huff of air as he ignored his roommate.

Not wanting to lie to himself, Arthur was still upset about the whole ordeal from earlier. Why Alfred insisted on continuously digging into rumours and other circumstances he knew nothing about was beyond him. Just the other week Alfred had randomly helped someone who yelled thief and caught the git who had decided to rob an old lady. It was horribly stupid to just run after the man. What would have happened if the alleged man had a gun or something? One of these days he was going to get himself and the others in trouble because of it.

Even now Alfred was putting them all in danger just to "prove" and "protect" everyone from the so called wolf who had yet to be killed. It was all preposterous and yet, Arthur found himself tagging alone. Of course he knew the reasons behind it, but it was better to keep the rest of them in the dark of the mysteries surrounding the castle and the curse for now. He figured once Alfred realised he could not catch the wolf the American would just give up and let them all go home. It was wishful thinking at best; Arthur knew that.

"Suit yourself, just don't lag behind!" Alfred gave a boisterous laugh as he led on. Feliciano stuck near his side considering Matthew was not there to comfort him, not that it really mattered to Arthur.

"I think it might be you who is lost Alfred," Arthur muttered under his breath with a small shake of his head, but when asked to repeat what he said he only dismissed it with a glare.

The forest their small group walked through grew denser as they continued deeper in. The magically feeling of seeing large trees spread out alongside a trail was slowly ebbing away as the trees started to clump together more to create darker shadows on either side of the winding path Alfred led them on. For Arthur this forest was nothing new. He had explored it since first coming here. In fact, if Alfred really was trying to lead them toward the castle, the American was leading them in the completely wrong direction. Arthur just hoped his cousin had a better sense of direction. But for the time being, Arthur just followed behind Arthur and Feliciano.

"-castle is the first place we need to look then?" Feliciano asked in rather high spirits even though the forest was growing steadily darker.

"Wait, why the castle? I thought we were going after the wolf?" Arthur was appalled at the thought of them trying to locate the castle first. That was not how the plan was supposed to go.

"Well duh, because that's where the wolf is mostly seen. Besides, we need some sort of base of operations and I figured we could start our search there. Just have to find the castle first. I could have sworn it was supposed to be somewhere around here," Alfred said looking around himself at the thick foliage around him. After a few minutes he scratched his head in confusion, being careful of the few hairs that seemed to stick up no matter how much Arthur had watched the American try to tame it.

"Ve, maybe we went in the wrong direction?" Feliciano asked as he took a step closer after checking the surroundings. "It is getting awfully dark Al."

"Yeah, it is. I was hoping to just camp out in the castle of course and then meet up with Mattie there. Then in the morning we could have totally staked out the place for the wolf!" Alfred gave a nervous chuckle as his ocean blue eyes flashed with an emotion Arthur could only think of as being fear, but it was gone just as it had come. "Yo, Artie, do you know where the castle is from here? You're normally prepared for this kinda stuff."

"First, the name is Arthur. Secondly, yes I do know where the castle is and Feliciano is right. You were going in the wrong direction. Thirdly, how could you even suggest that we camp out in the castle? You have yet to see it?" Arthur huffed as he adjusted the backpack he wore so he could pull the scarf he wore around his neck a little better. "This was a ridiculous plan Alfred. Let's just go home."

"What? No way! Mattie's on his way and we haven't even started looking for the wolf yet!" Alfred yelled at Arthur, his breath coming up in a white cloud.

Sighing, Arthur shook his head. At the moment, he knew it was better to just let it go for now considering when Alfred started yelling there was usually no way to calm the lad down except to do what he wanted. Arthur just hoped it would not lead them into some terrible mistake. But just as he was about to open his mouth to say anything about where the castle was, Feliciano spoke up.

"Please don't fight! I really don't like it when you or anyone I care about fights. Can't we all just be friends?"

Alfred stood there, blinking for a few moments before looking away from the Italian. Arthur gave Feliciano a nod of his head, a light dusting of a blush appeared. A bright smile lit up on Feliciano's face. Alfred only rubbed the back of his neck with a free hand, while he pulled out his phone to text something. What, Arthur was not sure, but if it had been important the American would have said something.

"Sorry about that Feli. So, Artie, do you know where to go?" Alfred asked, still messing with his phone for a moment.

"I do. But honestly we should not go there." Arthur checked the trees around them.

To one who had no clue about the forest, all the trees and paths would look the same, but Arthur who had taken it upon himself to explore it since day one, there were differences from a tree's or rock's formations at any corner. Thankfully Arthur did not just have to rely on his memory though. He had a rather interesting hobby of creating maps, and so had charted the forest over the time he had explored it. Pulling out the folded piece of paper, he unfolded it to see where they were.

"Dude, you have a map? Where did you get that?" Alfred asked as he jogged over, Feliciano not far behind, both more than a little baffled.

"Arthur, did you draw this yourself?" Feliciano asked, as Arthur held the map out a little farther for them all to see it.

"Yes, I did," he said absently as he continued to the scan the map. "Ah, there we are. From here we just have to head west a little."

"When did you have the time to do this?" Alfred took the map out of Arthur's hands before he could protest. Alfred then proceeded to look it over, turning it this way and that way.

"You git! Give that back," Arthur demanded, raising his voice as he held out his hand for the map. He needed to make sure neither Feliciano nor Alfred found anything else on it.

"No way! You should have said you had a map like way before this. It would have been totally better than having to like walk all over the place Art. Geez, I knew you were mad at me, but come on. By the way, what's this weird sym-"

Arthur grabbed the map from Alfred's hands with a grunt. Folding it up, he did his best not to let Alfred reclaim it or otherwise hurt the map. Once he was satisfied with the whole mess, Arthur gave a huff before moving towards the direction he had said to go. He was not obligated to answer Alfred's question in the least. Besides the American was right, Arthur was still upset with him.

"Why must you guys always fight?" Feliciano asked, shaking his head at the two, as Alfred started to jog after Arthur, a frown on his face.

"He started it," the American muttered while they continued on their path.


	4. Chapter 3: Third Spell

"Artie, how much farther?" Alfred asked for what seemed like the hundredth time to Arthur, who was still in charge of leading them through the forest.

"Again, the name is Arthur. Secondly, my answer is the same as about a minute ago Alfred. Just bear with me a little longer," Arthur sighed to himself as he looked about.

The setting sun was not being helpful in any way. Most of the markers he had memorized over the years were slowly disappearing as their vision grew accustomed to the dimness of the light, only leaving a few feet in any direction to discern. Although Arthur was still able to read the map, it would be of little help for he was looking for a specific circle; one which had seen days Arthur could only have dreamed about. If they did not locate it, they would have to camp out in the open, which was something Arthur was not too keen on doing. Which is why he pressed for the small group to continue on their journey instead of stopping to taking breaks.

"Arthur, is it much further?" Feliciano asked, beads of sweat on his brow. Arthur felt guilt grip at him for a moment before his thoughts turned toward the circle he was looking for again.

"Nearly there Feliciano," he reassured the other as Alfred gave an audible sigh to show his frustration, but Arthur ignored it for the time being.

Perhaps it was time to explain to them why it took longer to find their way to the castle. He was already hoping that perhaps with the three, they would be able to help him, or rather someone else entirely. But he knew if he told the two before him too soon, it would mean they would take him as a fool to never trust him again. If that were to pass, Arthur was not sure if he could handle it; he had lost too many people dear and near to him to see his own roommate turn against him.

Bringing out a weathered and aged peridot leather bound book, Arthur caressed the book gently with one hand before slowly opening it. Surely a little finding spell would be all right. Besides, with his pack it was more than likely the others did not see what he was doing nor see his face and his secret was safe for a little while longer. So he muttered the spell to himself once he located it. On his map, a small x appeared in the same colored ink he had used to make it. With a small smile, he felt a little more confident in the small group getting to where they needed to be.

"This way," Arthur pointed towards a small trodden path which had seen better days.

In some places on the path were twisted tree roots, along with patches of grass and other greenery which had yet to turn with the waning autumn season. Arthur figured the others would not have found the path outright since the usual archway which had first signaled the entrance to the path long ago was now only a disheveled arch of vines and tree branches, especially since it did not look appealing to the human eye. He doubted anyone really remembered the path, but it mattered not at the moment. Feliciano followed without questioning Arthur, but when the Briton turned, Alfred was still at the beginning of the path.

"Is something wrong Alfred?"

"No-Nothing!" Alfred stuttered out before taking a small step towards them. Arthur could see the hesitation and fear clouding the usual confident ocean blue eyes.

"There's nothing to fear here. I know I warned against animals and the like, but I was only teasing you. Now come on," Arthur waved his hand tell the other he needed to hurry up. But before he could take another step, the look in Alfred's eyes stopped him.

"Wha-What about ghosts?" he whispered, only barely audible for them to hear.

"Ve, ghosts Alfred?" Feliciano asked, moving his head to the side in confusion. Arthur wanted to know if the boy was really this stupid, or had he just been cursed with the luck to have found someone who was dumb enough to believe in something like that.

"You know, floating dead people? I hate to say it, but I can't protect people from ghosts, so I don't like them. Artie should know that," Alfred pointed a finger accusingly at the Briton who only shook his head with a sigh.

"You twat! Ghosts do not exist. You'll be safe," Arthur assured the other. "If you don't hurry up, I'll leave you behind you great buffoon. How did I possibly end up with you being my roommate?"

"Oh! Oh! I know the answer to that one. It's because there was no other rooms available for Al and Mattie to bunk together and our rooms are close," Feliciano provided with a bright smile before almost skipping behind Arthur rather pleased with himself.

Feeling no regret for starting off again, Arthur led the way through the dark woods to find the spot he needed before they would be able to get to the castle. Of course it was not the fault of neither Alfred nor Feliciano, but because of their background, Arthur knew the circle was needed.

"Say, Arthur? You say that the castle is further still, but isn't that the top of it?" Feliciano asked quietly before pointing to the top of the trees to see a bit of the top of a tower.

"Tell me, Feliciano, do you know anything about the castle?" Arthur asked, while he held onto a branch to stop it from obscuring their way. He was glad to see Alfred was still with them, even if he was a bit paranoid with his constant need to look behind him.

"Nope! But I'm sure you're going to tell me now. Aren't you?" Feliciano asked, trying to match Arthur's stride.

"Well, it's actually not just one castle, but a cluster of three castles. The outer two castles are the ones who have weathered and eroded over the years, protecting the one in the middle for the most part. Although, some say that the middle castle is full of magic and perhaps even a curse," Arthur explained watching his map carefully. He was a bit surprised to see that Feliciano was able to see past the charm, but of course Alfred did not.

"What tower? I might be blind without glasses, but I don't see a tower," Alfred complained as he shifted the bags on his shoulders, a sheen of sweat on his face while a few patches of his shirt were getting soaked as well.

"It's dark out Alfred, I wouldn't expect you to see anything beyond your face," Arthur pointed out without looking back.

"Wait, how do you know so much about the castles?" Feliciano asked, who Arthur could tell was rather surprised at his knowledge.

Chuckling slightly, Arthur only gave the other a smile. They would know soon enough why the middle castle still stood as well as it did over the years. "I've done some research."

"Oh," Feliciano paused for a moment, losing the in-time step he had with Arthur. "Alfred did you research the castle too?"

"What? Why would I need to do boring things like that?" Alfred looking genuinely disgusted for a moment, with his brows scrunched up and face twisted almost as if he was in pain. "I believe it best to learn about something with my own eyes instead of relying on information from other people. Why do you think I want to see the wolf for myself?"

Arthur turned to face Alfred with a glare.

"What in blazes are you talking about? You should always have some form of knowledge before going after something considering it could be dangerous. What if the middle castle was not in tack and you had to climb the walls or something to see any of it?"

Alfred watched Arthur grow steadily angrier with him as he continued his speech, raising his voice before almost spitting out the last words. Arthur just could not fathom how Alfred could be completely clueless on the safety of others and himself. There were just times when not knowing what they were going to get into could potentially be dangerous. Thankfully he had agreed to come with them, but what if Arthur did not know what he did and was not able to help as he could now? Shaking these thoughts out of his head, Arthur turned away from the American to continue on the path, ignoring Feliciano, who was near tears. He faintly heard Alfred comfort him.

"No worries Feli. Sometimes we get into fights. Besides, I think the cold and lack of tea is making him fussy. Once we get to the castle I'm sure things will be just fine," Alfred assured the other, even though Arthur knew nothing would calm down once they were at the castle; if anything the stress the Briton felt now would only double.

The rest of the journey through the darkened woods was quiet, with the occasional humming coming from Feliciano in an attempt to brighten up the mood. Arthur remained silent unless he needed to tell them which direction to go next, or warn them about something potentially harmful in the path. Neither Alfred nor Feliciano made it a point to start a conversation again, at least not while Arthur continued to furrow his brows, glaring at them for any noise they might have made. Arthur felt the pangs of guilt wash over him several times, but honestly, he was just hoping that Alfred would learn to be a bit more responsible by the end of the journey.

Finally, they reached the marker Arthur had been looking for since he had taken the lead from Alfred. Normally it would not have taken him this long to find something such as this, but it was a rather old marker for his magic. Although he wondered if he should fortify his magic once everything was explained considering that Feliciano was able to see one of the towers from the castles.

"Stay here a tick," Arthur said with an apologetic look in his eyes for being harsh on them when really he was just frightened and wanted to get this all over and done with.

"Why?" Feliciano questioned as Arthur took his pack to set it down on the ground near Alfred.

"I need to check something. I won't be but a moment," Arthur turned toward the still green brush, but wondered how long they would stay that way.

Pushing the thought to the side, he attempted to look for the small circle, a fairy circle. It was not too far from the path, but it troubled him to see some of the mushrooms, which were normally growing quite healthy, were slowly starting to lose their vibrant crimson color. Perhaps it would be time to find a new circle before this one lost its magic. Making a small mental note to himself, he took a deep breath and stepped inside. Under normal circumstance one would not go inside this circle, but for Arthur, it was the only way he could talk to a certain fairy.

"You rang," came the soft melodious voice of a tall, golden haired women.

"Yes, I need you to allow the two who came with me and a boy named Matthew Williams, to able to see past the charms and glamour," Arthur gripped the ends of his sweater rather tightly, hoping he had caught the fairy on a good day. The last time he had called on her, she had almost decided on actually killing him only because she had been enjoying a lovely piece of cake.

"Why?" her lilac colored eyes gave none of her emotions away as she floated just barely above the ground in her powder blue dress which came only to the knees.

"I think they might be able to help me break the curse. But they can't- Well, two can't see past the charms," Arthur explained, remembering how Feliciano was able to see the top of the tower.

"Very well," the fairy gave a small before a small orb the same color as her eyes came to her hands. From the orb, three waves of light came from it, passing by Arthur and deep into the woods. "The three you have so wished to have the power will now be able to see through all your illusions," the fairy said with a small sigh, as if having done so had drained her of much of her energy, even if Arthur knew better. "Oh, remember, it is only past your magic they can see. Anyone else and they will see only the illusion."

"Thank you. I'll keep your words in mind and I'll remember to bring something sweet the next time I visit," Arthur quickly added the last bit, since he did not have anything to give to her as a present this time around.

"Then till next time dear Arthur. Remember, the others are always watching," she warned him, before disappearing back into the fairy world from which she had come from.

Gathering his wits, Arthur quickly stepped out of the circle. The warning had come at not a moment too late. The minute he stepped out of the circle, he saw a blurred shape appear only moments before where the fairy had been. Knowing he was protected, he headed back to the two so they could finally go the castle before Arthur decided he was going to get cold feet.

"Dude, that took you forever," came the whine from his roommate, which made Arthur sigh before shouldering his pack and pulling back a branch which obscured their way. In front of them was a road leading to the path of the three castles.

"Are you happy now?" Arthur turned to the side to look at the two mesmerized faces. "I shall take that as a yes. Come on, we should head inside before it will be too dark to see."

"Artie, is that smoke coming from one of-"

"Why yes, it seems someone made dinner."


End file.
